Circling the U.S. Chapter 14: Where Rob Rides an E-Bike

June 30, 2019. Riding along Lake Erie, Ontario.

Canada Day, July 1, 2019

“Hey, Con, wait up!” Rob yelled from about 50 yards behind me. I stopped. When he caught up he asked, “Did you give me back my cell phone?”

“I’m sure I did,” I said.

“I don’t have it.”

One crisis that morning had been averted. Now another one. 

The day started out fine. We’d spent the night with a terrific Warm Showers family who had sent us on our way with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and interesting conversation.

We had arrived at their home in Ryerse, a small residential community on Lake Erie, early yesterday afternoon. John and Janet have a full house with three children still at home. They also have a beautiful backyard where cyclists are welcome to pitch a tent. We found a piece of shade under a tree next to a picnic table where we could easily stayed out of their way, but they immediately made us feel like family, inviting us to swim in their above-ground pool, offering us cold drinks and snacks. Janet said that of course we were invited to share dinner with them.

That little corner by the picnic table beats any campground.

We enjoyed the pool and dinner with family and friends on the deck outside.

John also runs a bike shop in his garage which was perfect because we needed to replenish our supply of tubes after three flats and get some bike maintenance advice. I asked John to take a look at my rear brake as I’d been having trouble getting it adjusted tightly enough. And we wanted advice on whether or not we needed new tires or chains. John told us the chains and tires were good, cleaned our chains and showed me how to adjust my brake. I tested it several times before parking it and going for a swim.

We left the next morning at nine o’clock, fairly confident that we could ride 60 miles to Port Stanley where we hoped to find another Warm Showers host for the night. We were aglow with the lingering effects of John and Janet’s generosity and kindness.

Our route took us along a country road with little traffic and no hills of significance until the third mile when we went tearing down a steep winding road. I squeezed both brake levers. I could feel my front brake engaging with the pressure of my left hand working the lever. But as I squeezed hard on the rear brake lever, all the way with my right hand, I felt nothing. The rear wheel kept right on turning. I came around the last corner at the bottom of the hill, slowing down, thanks to my front brake.

“I have to stop,” I called out. “My rear brake isn’t working.”

We pulled into a driveway with a gate that I could lean my bike against. I pulled my rear panniers off, got out our set of allen wrenches. Rob set his bike down and came over. “Let me know what I can do to help.”

“I need an extra set of hands,”I said, and began loosening the bolt that holds the cable in place. Three times I tried tightening the cable, Rob holding the cable in place while I tightened the bolt. When I squeezed the brake, ihe cable was clearly tight enough, but the brake didn’t engage. I was stumped. I’d seen John adjust it yesterday and we’d checked it together. I knew enough about the brakes that, had I been out in the middle of nowhere I might have tried fiddling with other brake adjustments. But there was an experienced bike mechanic three miles back. Should we try and ride back, or call and ask him to come by and help? I voted for the latter. Riding with only one working brake made me nervous.

“I need your phone,” I said to Rob. John’s number was on Rob’s phone from the messages and phone calls we’d passed back and forth the last couple days. I called, no answer. John hadn’t been up when we’d left, so I sent a text.

Then a bearded middle-aged man ambled over from the rustic log house across the street, “Is there anything I can do to help you?” We explained the situation.

“I’ve got a truck. I can give you a ride,” he said.

“That would be wonderful,” Rob said.

I texted John, giving him the update.

Lucas, our savior, brought his truck over and helped us load the bikes in the back, panniers and all. We drove back to John and Janet’s. John came out and fixed my brake, showing me where to make the adjustment.

We said our good-byes, again, We'd just lost an hour; it was ten o’clock, hopefully still early enough to get in our 60 miles to Port Stanley. At mile three we hit that steep wiinding hil and I breathed a sigh of relief when I squeezed my brakes; both worked. I waved to Lucas sitting on his front porch at the bottom of the hill. Then we rode up and down more rolling hills, through a wide open countryside. It was a beautiful day, Canada Day, with driveways and mailboxes decorated with maple leaf flags. I was cruising along, loving my life on the road. Then, I heard Rob calling, and stopped to find out his phone had gone AWOL.

“I’m sure I gave it to back to you,” I said. “What else would I have done with it?”

We looked in both our handlebar packs. Nothing. We tried to retrace our steps to figure out where we could have left it. On the back seat of Lucas’ truck? The front seat?

“Could it be at John and Janet’s? Did you set it on the work bench?” Rob asked.

“I doubt it.”

We looked at each other, thinking, what to do? Rob searched through his handlebar pack again. It still wasn't there.

I checked my odometer. “We’ve ridden six miles past Lucas’ house.” I was thinking, let's just leave it. I wanted to keep going, not backtrack, again.

Rob said, “It’s  an expensive phone.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Let’s go back.”

I sighed, turned my bike around, threw my leg over, clipped in, and started pedaling. I remembered the day last winter when I lost my wallet, twice, from my own carelessness, and both times it got rescued. These things happen.

During the ride back, over one hill and then another - I counted four - my mind kept going, trying to retrace the journey Rob’s phone had taken. We'd needed both hands to load the bikes into the truck so neither of us could have had it then. Rob has a  plastic map holder on his bike. A couple days before, when we needed the GPS app he had slipped his phone into it. I had thought at the time that the phone could easily fall out, but Rob would notice it while he was riding so I didn't say anyhing.

I slowed down to let Rob catch up. “Could you have put your phone into the top of your handlebar pack?”

“Maybe.”

“Was your bike leaning against mine or against the side of the truck?”

“Against the side of the truck.”  That was the side where the map holder opens up.

I said, “Your phone could have fallen out onto the road.”

“Oh, geez.”

“We may have to ride back to John and Janet’s to look for it.” Then I added, “We’ll be lucky if it hasn’t been run over.”

After another mile or so Rob said, “Look. If it’s not in the truck, I’ll take off my panniers and leave them with you and go by myself.” I liked that idea.

“Let’s hope Lucas is home,” Rob said. 

I said, “If he's not, we’ll leave him a note with our contact information.”

When we arrived at Lucas’ we first checked the driveway across the street where he’d picked us up. Nothing. 

Lucas was still out on his front porch. When we walked nto his driveway he came down the steps and we told him about the missing phone. The three of us looked all over the truck - front seat, back seat, truck bed, nothing. 

Rob said, "I'll go back and look," and started taking his panniers off his bike.

Lucas said, “I have a better idea. You can ride our e-bikes.”

While he went into the shed next to his house, I took off my helmet and gloves and sat on the step outside the shed. I was not going to try out an e-bike. The thought of it made me nervous. A woman came down from the porch introduced herself as Lucas’ wife, and offered me a drink of water.

“You’d be welcome to pitch your tent here if you need to,” she said.

“That’s really nice of you, but I hope we’re able to be on our way soon,” I said.

She brought me a glass of ice water and I watched while Rob got a quick e-bike lesson and took off. I didn’t feel confident in my own ability to handle an e-bike so I worried about how Rob would do. As if he read my mind, Lucas said, “I’ll go out in twenty minutes or so and see how he’s doing.”

I went up on the porch and met the other people gathered there, in-laws visiting from Japan, and a daughter off from work for the holiday. Then Lucas headed out in his truck after Rob.

When he returned Rob got out of the truck holding up his phone. “The luck of the Irish!” The phone, was undamaged. “And look what else I found.” He held up a little Canadian flag, the one he’d gotten at the RV park we’d camped at a couple nights ago. It, too, had flown out of the truck onto the side of the road.

After thanking Lucas and saying our good-byes, we rode just a couple miles to a cafe we’d both noticed earlier. We needed to hit a reset button on the day. The cafe had outdoor seating on a deck next to a garden where we found table shaded by an umbrella. Checking my email, I found out that we had two  positive responses from Warm Showers hosts for the night. I had to decline both offers.

I ordered a salad with grilled chicken and Rob had fish and chips. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals, feeling good about how we'd navigated the morning's crises. Neither of us had lost our cool and good people had helped us out. My brake worked and we’d rescued Rob’s phone from a certain death along the side of the road. And his flag. 

We didn't need to go to Port Stanley after all. In the afternoon we stopped at a visitor information center where I found a map of scenic drives. The older gentleman who worked there pointed out a route that would take us northwest toward Lake Huron. It left the Lake Erie shoreline before Port Stanley.

We didn't get to sleep that night in comfortable beds, but we did get a campsite at a provincial park.

“How did you like riding that e-bike?” I asked Rob.

“It was really quite fun going uphill and having it take off. I didn’t do any work.”

In addition to his bike shop, John runs a bicycle touring company. If you're thinking of exploring Ontario and would like a supported tour, check out OSC. John definitely goes the extra mile for his customers. And he specializes in E-bikes.